Saturday, 24 August 2013

The Secret Seven series

The Secret Seven
novels, second in popularity to Enid
Blyton's Famous
Five, were first published in 1949 and
have remained continuously in print. There are fifteen books in the series and I
am reviewing the first seven which, I think, is a most appropriate
number.

Tony Ross' lively illustrations will
appeal to young 21st century readers and in addition to each adventure story
there is the bonus of extra stories, a quiz, insights into Blyton's life and
details of how fans of the Secret Seven can form their own secret club. I
wondered at the start whether modern Australian children would find these
stories enjoyable and addictive. Will they be eager to read on?

Enid Blyton has been accused of a limited
vocabulary in her works and certainly I discovered that she uses a number of
words repetitively; there is a great amount of author intrusion; and children
will find that the characters are allowed a great deal more freedom than is the
norm for today. But with regard to the latter factor, her stories would be very
much diminished as the freedom is a necessary and exciting ingredient. The
consumption of the sugary food the Seven eat will no doubt appeal, too (though
not the penchant for sardine sandwiches!).

Blyton's style might be somewhat dated,
but she has a genius of creating adventures from very simple settings. Bringing
seven characters to life with individual traits is no easy task, but generally
she brings it off. Along with several black and white drawings within each
story, Tony Ross has included portraits of the members of the Secret Seven and
Scamper the golden spaniel (I guess it is a cocker spaniel) on the back cover,
which will help kids to relate to the characters,

A few of the club members tend to be
somewhat one-dimensional but most are strong characters, particularly Peter, the
club's leader, and Blyton has captured wonderfully the way kids interact with
each other. The rudeness, bossiness, loyalty, friendship, quarrels and teamwork
reflect typical behaviour. On many occasions, the repetitiveness and author
intrusion cements each step of the adventure. The importance of Scamper is an
endearing touch.

The members of the gang, Peter, Janet,
Jack, Barbara, Pam, Colin and George plus Scamper, all meet in the garden shed
at the home of Peter and his sister Janet. Peter and Janet had come up with the
idea of a secret society, with its S.S. button badge each child wears, and the
use of a password before admittance to the shed. They have made it comfortable
with cushions etc and a lot of the fun is generated by having plenty of food and
drink to consume. This information is repeated in various ways in the first two
chapters of each novel. Jack's sister Susie who badly wants to belong to the
society, adds extra conflict to each story with her interfering ways. Somehow
the children manage to track down criminals faster than the local police who are
ever-grateful.

Book 1.
TheSecret Seven
(ISBN 9781444913439). When the
children return from making snowmen in a field opposite an old house, Jack
discovers he has lost his badge. As Peter can get very annoyed when rules are
broken, he goes back to the field that night to find it. While there, a van with
two men pulls up outside the house and then he hears high pitched noises and the
sound of the men panting as if in some kind of a struggle. Jack had hidden
behind a hedge, and starts to feel afraid, so at the first opportunity, he heads
home as fast as he can.

Thus begins the Secret Seven's first
investigation, and although some may be clever enough to guess what is going on
at the house, it nevertheless has been written with plenty of intrigue and
suspense which will keep the reader turning the pages.

Book 2.
Secret Seven Adventure
(ISBN 9781444913446). This adventure
has the Secret Seven on the trail of a jewel thief. The background setting is a
circus which makes it even more fun to read. Blyton's imagination and
story-telling skills are employed to great
effect.

Book 3.
Well Done, Secret Seven
(ISBN 9781444913453). A runaway boy
with a kitten who seeks refuge in the tree the Secret Seven are temporarily
using as a base in the hot weather, instigates another assignment for Peter and
Co. I found this storyline implausible. It seemed to me absurd that a small boy
would not have been taken back to e.g. Peter and Janet's house for safety
reasons, but instead, left to sleep up in a tree. But children will probably
view it as an extra thrilling and scary element.

Book 4.
Secret Seven on the Trail
(ISBN 9781444913460). This story has
a lot of intriguing elements. Jack's annoying sister, Susie, forms her own club
and fools the Seven into investigating imaginary crooks at
Tigger’s Barn. However, the Secret Seven discover something
is going on there
and set out to unravel the mystery connected to stolen goods. Some of their
antics around the train line are potentially dangerous but Blyton's characters
are sensible and come to no harm.

Book 5.
Go Ahead, Secret Seven
(ISBN 9781444913477). The seven
decide to practice their sleuthing skills, but unfortunately George who is given
the task of shadowing, is pounced on himself. A nasty young man marches him home
and complains about George's behaviour. Poor George is immediately banned from
the club by his father. I found this parallel dilemma a good ploy, although the
way it came about highly improbable. Nevertheless, it leads to the club members
discovering a dog stealing racket. Solving it proves perilous but once again all
turns out well in the end, especially for
George.

Book 6.
Good Work, Secret Seven
(ISBN 9781444913484) Peter and Janet
are in the back seat of their dad's car when it is stolen, then abandoned.
Bringing the perpetrators to justice is a challenging and dangerous task for the
Seven. Blyton ramps up interest by setting it around Guy Fawkes night
preparations, complete with fireworks and bonfire. A safety code at the end of
the chapter list cautions children and is a thoughtful addition.

Book 7.
The Secret Seven Win Through
(ISBN 9781444913491). While the
Secret Seven's shed is being painted, the children use a cave, which Scamper
discovered, as their new meeting place. But someone else is using it at night,
eating their supplies and messing up their carefully arranged belongings. At
first the club members think Susie has somehow found their cave and taken books
and cushions away, but they are wrong. Step by step the children discover the
real culprits and why they are using their cave which has another entrance. Once
again Blyton uses background to hook children and give them enormous reading
pleasure.

Summing up, I can see why this series is
so successful despite dated/English elements and overuse of particular words.
Blyton is a magical storyteller. She knows what thrills children and no doubt at
the time she was producing her work, her stories brightened the severity of life
in post-war England. She also manages to unobtrusively weave in moral issues -
respect for elders, work before play, fairness and forgiveness of which many
parents would whole-heartedly approve. To date over 500 million copies of Enid
Blyton books have been sold, outselling any other children's author. That's a
good enough recommendation for me.